PencilDB — A database of writing instruments

12,460Variant

2,854models

Record

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New arrivalsSee all

AdRakuten Ichiba SheafferLegacy Ballpoint PenBallpoint$141List price

AdYahoo! Shopping AuroraIpushiron Saten Green Fountain PenFountain pen$141List price

AdRakuten Ichiba Graf von Faber-CastellGiroshe Konyakku Fountain PenFountain pen$339List price

AdRakuten Ichiba Graf von Faber-CastellClassic Collection Guranadira Fountain PenFountain pen$621List price

AdYahoo! Shopping AuroraIpushiron Saten Orange Fountain PenFountain pen$141List price

AdYahoo! Shopping AuroraStyle Masutado Yellow Ballpoint PenBallpoint$56List price

AdYahoo! Shopping EsterbrookModeru -J Orudo - FasshonFountain pen$353List price

AdYahoo! Shopping AuroraTarentamu Gold Black Fountain PenFountain pen$367List price

AdYahoo! Shopping EsterbrookEsuti Totoisu GTFountain pen$198List price

AdYahoo! Shopping AuroraStyle Papurika Red Ballpoint PenBallpoint$56List price

AdYahoo! Shopping AuroraIpushiron Blue Kuromu Ballpoint PenBallpoint$102List price

AdYahoo! Shopping SheafferIcon Fountain PenFountain pen$127List price

AdRakuten Ichiba ConklinAll American Ballpoint PenBallpoint$71List price

AdYahoo! Shopping AuroraDuokaruto Gold Cap - Blue Fountain PenFountain pen$141List price

2026AdRakuten Ichiba ViscontiVan GoghBallpoint$325List price

AdYahoo! Shopping EsterbrookEsuti Kingu - Obu - Za - Naito GTFountain pen$409List price

AdYahoo! Shopping AuroraOputima Blue GT Fountain PenFountain pen$649List price

AdYahoo! Shopping AuroraOputima Black Pearl Ballpoint PenBallpoint$395List price

AdYahoo! Shopping SheafferSheaffer 300 Engraved Fountain PenFountain pen$106List price

AdRakuten Ichiba DiplomatTorabera Rumi Ballpoint PenBallpoint$53List price

Most wantedSee all

2 want itUserNohara KohgeiWooden Mechanical PencilMechanical pencil$56List price

2 want itUserSEASARAeroMechanical pencil$71List price

2 want itAdRakuten Ichiba Mitsubishi Pencil (uni)uni-ball Zento 3 Colour Ballpoint Pen Standard ModeruMulti pen$5.29List price

2 want itAdRakuten Ichiba LudditeTechDraw2Mechanical pencil$18List price

2 want itUserKawecoSupesharu Brass PencilMechanical pencil$64List price

1 want itAdRakuten Ichiba Caran d'AcheEcridorBallpoint$184List price

1 want itAdRakuten Ichiba ZebraSARASA ClipBallpoint$0.71List price

1 want itAdYahoo! Shopping PlatinumSilver Solid WoodFountain pen$1,059List price

1 want itAdRakuten Ichiba Mitsubishi Pencil (uni)STYLE FIT Maisuta 4 Colour HorudaMulti pen$5.65List price

1 want itAdRakuten Ichiba LAMYLAMY 2000 Ballpoint PenBallpoint$162List price

ArticlesSee all

2026-9Luddite TechDraw2 review: the drafting pencil that started at 7.4 mmLuddite's first writing instrument was a drafting pencil just 7.4 mm across. Three review videos trace what changed — and what didn't — between TechDraw and TechDraw2.Read article

2026-9Hirai Woodturner's Unshu: the part number names the wood, and only 4–5 pens leave the lathe a dayA tiny woodturning workshop in Osaka makes the Unshu fountain pens. The part number opens with the wood, the price is set almost entirely by the material — and the dearest one isn't wood at all.Read article

2026-9Nakaya: 147 of 149 Pens Are Ebonite — Titanium Exists Only in the Raiter PiccoloCounting the 149 Nakaya fountain pens in PencilDB by material, 147 turned out to be ebonite (hard rubber). Only 2 are titanium, and both belong to a single model, the Raiter Piccolo. Nakaya's nibs and feeds are widely described as interchangeable with Pilot's Custom 823, and its lacquer colour names read like tiny paintings.Read article

2026-9SXN-150 is ¥165, SXE3-3000 is ¥3,300 — Mitsubishi Pencil's catalogue numbers can be read as prices. Half of them, anywayWe checked Mitsubishi Pencil's catalogue numbers against current list prices, one by one. Of the eleven models carrying a number, six have the pre-tax price written into the number. The other five do not — and nothing in the number tells you which kind you are holding.Read article

2026-9Blue-black ink darkens by the same reaction that once blackened teeth in JapanBlue as you write, black a little later. Nothing is fading: iron and tannin are reacting on the paper. In Japan the same reaction was once used to blacken teeth.Read article

2026-9Filling without wetting the nib — the most complicated fountain pen ever built was an answer to the ballpointIn 1952 Sheaffer sent a thin metal tube out from beneath the nib, hoping to keep people who hated inky fingers from defecting to the ballpoint. Four seals had to hold; one leak and the pen would not fill.Read article

2026-9Fountain pens got their colour in 1924 — and the material is no longer made in JapanUntil the 1920s, pen barrels were almost all black. The celluloid that brought jade green to them began life as a substitute for billiard balls, and left the stage because it burned.Read article

2026-9Your nib says "iridium." There has been none in it since 1952.The tiny bead on the tip of a nib has carried the same name since 1834, but its contents changed long ago. The last time iridium turned up, it was in a 1952 Parker 51.Read article

2026-8From ¥275 to ¥5,500 — the Kuru Toga spread twentyfold in seventeen yearsA pencil that began as nothing but a rotating lead now runs to seven lines. Its standard model carries 155 choices, more than any of the 2,464 product names on record. In 2023 it expanded downward and upward in the same year.Read article

2026-8Japan's only ebonite maker sells its own pens — and every colour is named after a sceneOne fountain pen in five is ebonite. The only factory in Japan still making the material has a brand of its own: five shapes in the same eight colours, named crimson heart, nightfall, moon on the river, scented wind. The inks are named after the neighbourhood.Read article See all32 in all

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56 pens have neither a part number nor a date. Adding what you know makes the database richer.Add what you know

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Browse by brand64 brands

WANCHERJapan405 models SAILORJapan · 1911275 models MontblancGermany · 1906242 models eboyaJapan173 models MontegrappaItaly · 1912158 models PILOTJapan · 1918127 models uniJapan · 1887108 models Graf von Faber-CastellGermany94 models PLATINUMJapan · 191992 models AuroraItaly79 models KuretakeJapan · 190267 models LAMYGermany · 193065 models TWSBITaiwan65 models ZEBRAJapan · 189761 models KawecoGermany · 188360 models PentelJapan · 194659 models Leonardo Officina ItalianaItaly57 models Faber-CastellGermany · 176156 models F-STYLEJapan43 models SAKURAJapan · 192139 models EsterbrookUnited States35 models Hirai MokkoJapan29 models ViscontiItaly · 198829 models PARKERUnited States · 188821 models Caran d'AcheSwitzerland · 191521 models CROSSUnited States · 184619 models WaldmannGermany · 191819 models Sun-Star StationeryJapan19 models KOKUYOJapan · 190518 models S.T. DupontFrance · 187218 models STAEDTLERGermany · 183518 models Retro 51United States · 199017 models MonteverdeUnited States15 models ystudioTaiwan15 models OHTOJapan · 192915 models DiplomatGermany15 models YamanekoyaJapan14 models TACCIAJapan14 models PelikanGermany · 183814 models NakayaJapan · 199914 models TombowJapan · 191313 models NahvalurSingapore12 models KUTSUWAJapan12 models Koubou SetuJapan · 200411 models WatermanFrance · 188311 models BorghiniItaly · 195410 models SheafferUnited States10 models ConklinUnited States9 models BallografSweden · 19459 models BenuArmenia · 20169 models PenluxTaiwan7 models KAYOU+Japan7 models Opus 88Taiwan · 19886 models Nohara KohgeiJapan5 models OMASItaly · 19253 models WingbackUnited Kingdom2 models LudditeJapan2 models SEASARJapan · 20242 models Robert OsterAustralia2 models Raymay FujiiJapan2 models MIDORIJapan2 models KiteraJapan2 models LEGAMIItaly1 models KWZ InkPoland1 models